INDEX
Contemporary Films Spotlighting the Uniqueness of Music
Kizu: Realizing it again in the first half of this year, now is such an exciting era for film music, isn’t it? In recent years, heavyweights like Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor have been active. What really struck me was Jóhann Jóhannsson’s work on ‘Poor Things’ (directed by Yorgos Lanthimos). A young indie artist in their twenties suddenly involved in such a monumental project. Also, Mica Levi from ‘The Zone of Interest’ (directed by Jonathan Glazer) is one of the most cutting-edge film composers today. Originally from an underground background, now pushing boundaries as a film composer. Of course, this aligns with my taste as an alternative and indie listener, and it excites me to think whether there has ever been such an interesting time for film music before.
Osanai: I also love film music enough to listen to soundtracks on my way home. Certainly, in the first half of the year, there were many soundtracks I really enjoyed. The soundtrack for ‘All The Beauty And The Bloodshed’ by Soundwalk Collective (directed by Laurie Anderson) was also fantastic. I also liked ‘Memoria’ (directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul), a streaming film, and thought it created a really pleasant acoustic space.”
Read “Music from ‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,’ a documentary on the life of photographer Nan Goldin” (NiEW)
Osanai: When people think of film music, I think many still imagine something with melodic lines like John Williams’. I love those too, but nowadays there’s an increase in more abstract music. The other day when I went to see ‘The Zone of Interest’, during the credits, the music started playing and people started fleeing from their seats. It’s either you flee as soon as it starts or you’re stuck watching until the end, there’s no in-between.
Kizu: Films like ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘The Zone of Interest’ emphasize sound design and we’re seeing more challenging works concerning sound. Personally, I think sound is more crucial than visuals when watching a film in theaters. No matter how well you set up at home, I believe you can’t fully experience sound as you do in a theater.
Filmmakers conscious of industrial structure seem to give serious thought to how their works should be viewed. Encouraging greater awareness of sound than visuals for theatrical viewing seems quite logical to me.
Osanai：Great filmmakers and directors often have a good ear. They pay attention to how music and sound effects sound, as well as how dialogue is heard. Overall, I think there are many elements they listen to comprehensively.
